Love this club

Middlesbrough's Boateng: Shawky will be good for us

Middlesbrough captain George Boateng is backing recent signing Mohamed Shawky to be a success on Teesside.

Shawky, a 40-time Egypt international, completed a £650,000 move from former African champions Al-Ahly on August transfer deadline day.

He made his Middlesbrough debut in last month's Carling Cup defeat at Tottenham, performing creditably at the base of a five-man midfield before being withdrawn when Gareth Southgate shuffled his pack at half-time. But he has not featured in the club's last two league games.

"Since he came into the squad, Mohamed Shawky has looked good," said Boateng.

"He will take a bit longer to settle in because I think he has found the pace and intensity of the training quite tough. In Egypt, it is too hot to train like we do at Middlesbrough.

"But he has done enough to show us all that he is a very good player. We now have eight players competing for midfield places. Everyone knows that if they don't perform, there are people like Mohamed waiting in the wings."